Hopeless Without God’s Promise

“Therefore, remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called ‘the uncircumcision’ by what is called ‘the circumcision,’ which is made in the flesh by hands—remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:11-12).

The “covenants of promise” are the words of a God who cannot lie.[1] They are his gracious commitments to his people. They are the good He swears to do for them. They are blood-drenched promises, ultimately costing him everything. O. Palmer Robertson provides an insightful definition of a covenant.

“A covenant is a bond in blood sovereignly administered. When God enters into a covenantal relationship with men, he sovereignly institutes a life-and-death bond. A covenant is a bond in blood, or a bond of life and death, sovereignly administered.” [2]

God makes promises. I will forgive you.[3] I will rescue you from judgment.[4] I will hear your prayer.[5] I will give you eternal life.[6] I will provide you daily bread.[7] I will not punish you.[8] I will be gracious to you.[9] I will be your God.[10] You will be my people.[11] I will be with you.[12] I will never leave you.[13] I will not forsake you.[14]

He swears to his own harm that these promises are sure and will never be abnegated. He takes a cross and vacates a tomb to ensure the efficacy of every word. Without God’s promise of salvation, there is no salvation. Without God’s promise of forgiveness there is no forgiveness. To be without God’s covenant is to be without a relationship with him and without all his promises. This is hopelessness.

When God speaks, it is true. When God promises, it is certain. Hope is directly tied to our relationship with His word. If his promises are not for us, despair is inevitable. If his promises are for us, hope is guaranteed.[15]

[1] Andrew T. Lincoln, Word Biblical Commentary: Ephesians (Word Books: Dallas, 1990), 137. “The only other place in the NT where the plural form of ‘the covenants’ is found is Romans 9:4 where Paul states, ‘to them belong…the covenants…and the promises.’ The writer probably has in mind a series of covenants with Abraham (Genesis 15:7-21, 17:1-21), with Isaac (Genesis 26:2-5), with Jacob (Genesis 28:13-15), with Israel (Exodus 24:1-8), and with David (2 Samuel 7).” I would add the new covenant promise of Jeremiah 31:31-34. Walter Kaiser argues that repeated Old Testament formulas “epitomize the content of the promise…the gospel itself is the heart of the promise: ‘in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.’ Another is the tripartite formula, ‘I will be your God, you shall be my special possession and I will dwell in the midst of you.’” Walter Kaiser Jr, “The Old Promise and the New Covenant: Jeremiah 31:31-34,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 15 (1972), 12. In other words, all the covenants serve to emphasize the certainty God’s presence with us, possession of us and faithfulness to us. They all drive us toward the gospel and the hope which is found in that good news.

[15] Moltmann, Theology of Hope, 62. Moltmann provides the following definition of promise and the unique dynamic a promise creates. “A promise is a declaration which announces the coming of a reality that does not yet exist. Thus, promise sets man’s heart on a future history in which the fulfilling of the promise is to be expected. If it is a case of a divine promise, then that indicates that the expected future does not have to develop within the framework of the possibilities inherent in the present, but arises from that which is possible to the God of the promise.”